Far Away
by northernlamplights
Summary: Elsanna. Road trip AU. Dl:dr. Usually Anna is the one to come up with the brash ideas, so when Elsa finally has one of her own, the redhead couldn't refuse.
1. The Party

Wow, okay. This is the first thing I've written in a loooong time. Nice to get back into it! Since it's been a while since the last time I've written Elsanna, it might be a little OOC, but I'll try my best. Criticism is welcome!

Modern AU, no powers. I don't know, I'm trying my best, this is just what came out of my brain.

* * *

Silence churned in the car. The only thing that moved were the dancing lights of the street lamps and the shadows that filled their absence in the cabinet of the car as they raced home. They were going 15 over the speed limit, but Anna didn't care.

Elsa sat in the passenger seat, knees curled to her chest and shoulders scrunched to her ears. If she was still shaking, Anna couldn't tell in her peripheral. The redhead herself was trembling. But the car didn't slow. No, she was too mad for that.

Her mind swarmed with names to blame for their predicament.

She could pin some of the blame on Hans, but not as much as she'd like. Her cousin had always gotten along with family members until he got what he wanted, then he would just sort of up and abandon post. Anna just wouldn't ever had expected him to out her relationship with Elsa in front of everybody during a god damn Christmas family reunion. This time is supposed to be about closeness and kindness, not destroying your cousin's lives with pictures, and where the hell was he even hiding when he took those pictures?

Anna shuddered when she remembered the look in her other cousin's eyes, when Rapunzel's green eyes fell in poorly hidden horror. She can only hope the horror was of Hans' disruptive behavior and not disgust of the nature of Anna and Elsa's relationship.

_"What would your parents have said?"_

_"If only they were still with us, maybe this wouldn't have happened."_

_ "No, you can't be here anymore. Get out!" _

And the look in Elsa's face when their grandparents and aunts and uncles loudly stated their opinions of them... Anna couldn't pay attention to the scornful looks their family gave them when she noticed the mist in the blonde's eyes.

_Elsa ran from the building, and Anna nearly tailed her right out of that terrible place, but she turned to say two things. She locked eyes with Hans. "Shame on you." She said, voice dangerously low. _

_ Her uncle, Hans' father, laughed sardonically. "You're certainly in a position to say that."_

_ "And shame on you all for making her cry." She cast a fiery look around the room before running out to catch up with her sister._

_ Shouts followed Anna until the door slammed behind her. _

_ She found Elsa kneeling against their car, sharp shadows cast across her face beneath the streetlamp in the frigged night. She didn't have to hear the frantic wheezing coming from Elsa to know panic had taken her breath._

_ "No, no, it's okay Els," Anna dropped to her knees and wrapped her arms around her sister. She began to rock her in her arms, whispering, "We'll be fine, we're okay. We're here, we're together, I love you, I love you so much," and it kept coming until Elsa was able to stand and they could get out of that terrible cul-de-sac. _

Even now, Elsa was still shaking, occasionally rocking back and forth. She hadn't uttered a word since... well, you know.

This in mind, Anna took a breath and slowed to the speed limit. Her furious behavior wouldn't help Elsa calm out of her panic, and Anna knew it. It was hard though, especially with the echoes of their family's terrible, poisonous words still ringing in her ears. But she shook her head and bit her lip.

Taking another deep breath, the redhead let her eyes flit to her sister for a moment. Elsa was still now. "Are you," Anna swallowed when her voice cracked. "You okay?"

No response. Anna checked the roadsigns to make sure she was getting on the right highway (she got them pretty lost on the way there earlier). It would take them about twenty minutes until they could get back under their sheets and forget about their family, the day, _the whole world._

But for now, the car seemed quite a lonely place for there being two people in it.

"How could Hans do this to us? No, scratch that, how could he even know?" When she caught Elsa curling up even more in the corner of her eye, Anna knew she wasn't going to be talking for a while. She focused on the road.

"Hans... he was always one of my favorite cousins, next to Rapunzel, of course." Anna paused with a sigh. "What could've given him a reason to hate me? To hate us?"

They changed lanes. Fifteen minuted until they were home.

"I don't really want to know, actually. He was always patient and kind, really kind. Like, I couldn't see him even getting that mad over us... well, being us. But maybe that was what turned him into that shit who outed us." _No, _Anna stopped to consider, _I won't believe that this is bad. Elsa and I have spent too much time discussing the "morals" of our relationship to believe that what we have together could produce evil. We're good people in love, so who can stop us? _

"He reacted the way any normal human would." Elsa said, voice surprisingly even. Anna hadn't expected her to be talking much until they got in the shelter of their home.

The redhead waited for her sister to elaborate upon her sentiment. Ten minutes until they were home. They got off the highway and slowed to a street pace, shadows cast across their faces by each late night establishment and street lamp.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Anna finally asked, wondering if Elsa even remembered what she said. Was she even still awake? She was so quiet and still, curled up against the window.

Elsa shook her head. "What do you think?"

_I know where this conversation is going,_ Anna thought, frowning deeply, _And there is no way we're going to have this talk again in the car. _

Five minutes. Anna sped up to make it two, and before they knew it, they were in front of their apartment in a car filled with ear-ringing silence. The quiet was thick as they sat in the car, neither wanting to move.

Eventually, Anna took the plunge and got out of their car, and went up to their door. Elsa hadn't budged from the car.

The redhead looked down at the car before entering her living room. _Elsa just needs some alone time. She'll be up whenever she's ready. _Anna left the door unlocked for her.


	2. A Proposal

Sunlight trickled down from the window onto Anna's eyelids. The poor redhead tried to ignore the prospect of waking up as long as she could, but she remembered the previous night and her eyes shot open.

Wiping the sleep from her eyes, Anna tried to recall the details of the night before. She groaned.

She had left the door unlocked for her sister, and nearly two hours after, Elsa still hadn't come up. Anna only meant to rest her eyes when she laid down on the mattress, but the exhaustion from the events at the family reunion claimed her night.

_The reunion... what the hell are we going to do? We don't have the money to hire a sharpshooter to off our family one by one... next best thing is to send them displeased letters. God, I don't know. __Elsa will know what to do, she always does._

She looked to her side, only to find a bed devoid of Elsa. Worry settled in Anna's gut. Did Elsa ever come back in?

Then the scent of something baking hit her. Leaping from the bed, the girl found her sister in front of the stove covered in a giant bundle of blankets with a spatula poking from between its folds.

Immediately, Anna's worry dissipated. It was just her and her sister, and nothing could go wrong.

Grinning, the redhead leaned against the doorpost and commented, "I thought the cold didn't bother you."

The standing pile of blankets leaped in shock, nearly dropping the spatula. "Anna," Elsa's voice came harsh from inside the many layers, but softened in a sigh, "God, it's too early for this."

The younger girl looked up at the clock. It read 12:49. "Oh my gosh, I'm late!"

"It's okay Anna," Elsa said quickly, face peeking out of her blankets, "It's Saturday, remember?"

_Saturday. No work. Right. _Anna blew a strand of hair from her eyes.

"So we have all day to ourselves. Sounds perfect," Anna said, walking over to the stove to wrap her arms around where Elsa's middle would be in the mass of blankets, "And maybe I'll join you in your bundle after breakfast."

Anna helped her sister make the food and set the table before sitting down together, one steaming plate of hot pancakes and bacon each.

When Elsa sat, she shed her blankets, revealing a crisp set of matching pajamas and sat up properly. Anna noticed she hadn't changed since yesterday. It felt gross to the redhead, but she decided changing clothes could wait until after they ate.

"I spent nearly all night thinking about how to go about dealing with our... situation." Elsa said in a tone resembling that of a CEO giving a debriefing before a dreary meeting.

Anna appeared to be studying her breakfast. She hadn't expected this conversation this soon after the fact. It usually takes Elsa days of careful consideration before diving into a personal confrontation about things like this. "Considering you work for a widespread corporation, and I work as a freelance artist, I, well," the blonde hesitated.

It was too early for Anna to be catching onto what exactly Elsa was leading them towards. _She's really thought through this, _Anna thought, _Did she even sleep last night?_

"Wait, what is this about?" Anna said. Elsa's eyes cast downwards for a moment. "Remember? Yesterday? Hans? Any of -"

"Yeah, yeah, I remember it alright," Anna waved her hand in a dismissive motion, "But what do you mean by 'dealing with our situation'?"

Elsa took a breath, then locked eyes with her sister. "Anna, let's move."


	3. Packing for Two

After a beat of silence, Anna replied, "Move? As in, like, dance? Or as in going and living somewhere else?"

"The latter," Elsa mumbled, face in hands.

Anna nearly dropped her fork when she realized her sister was being completely serious. "Whoa, wait up a minute. So, like, for real? Actually moving?"

One solemn nod from Elsa, and Anna shot out of her seat with a hoot. Without time to respond, the blonde was lifted out of her seat and off her feet by a crushing hug from her sister. "I forget how strong you are sometimes," Elsa wheezed.

Setting Elsa back on her feet, Anna laughed. "Sorry, I just- _wow_. I mean, this is amazing!"

"So, you're sure you want to go through with this? I mean, if it's too soon," Elsa's words petered out.

"You even kidding? We've been talking about moving for ages!" Anna paused. "But Elsa, we still haven't decided on a place for sure. We were stuck between-"

"Los Angeles and Seattle, I know." Elsa moved to a map of the US hanging on the wall. It was covered in different colored thumb tacks and notes written in dry-erase marker about each location pinned. Some states were completely crossed off with a black 'x', and others had a question mark on them.

Anna walked to the map and frowned. "And Portland, not to mention San Fransokyo. And have you forgotten about the _entire_ east coast?" Thumb tacks lined major cities along the eastern states, all the way from up in New York, down to Orlando.

"I know. But I have a plan."

The younger sister raised a brow. "And what would this plan be? Flip a coin? Or better yet, roll a twenty-sided die?"

"Even better." Elsa grinned. "What we need is a road trip."

Anna blew horse-lips at that. "That's why Mom and Dad got us _Hey USA_ when we were kids. So that we didn't need to take a tour."

"Anna, Mom and Dad were archaeologists. My instincts, and some distinct memories of them taking us to national parks when they were still together, leads me to believe they _may _have wanted us to get out more."

"Well, look who it is, the leader of the debate club." Anna said, pompously waving a hand in the air before running it through her messy hair. "How are we even going to afford any of this, anyways? And I thought I was the unreasonable one."

"You are," Elsa chuckled and ruffled up Anna's hair despite her protest, before landing on their living room sofa. "Come, O Unreasonable One, sit."

The redhead obliged, still trying to manage her hair. "The Unreasonable One has taken her seat. You may speak."

Elsa rolled her eyes, but said, "So, I went through our files last night, through all our finances. I've also been keeping notes from all the times we've talked about where to move-"  
"You kept notes?" Anna cut in, laughing. "You fucking nerd-"

"_In the notes_," Elsa continued as though Anna hadn't said anything, "I've kept an estimation of living costs of each place, and I've compared the costs of living, driving, and what our funds will allow. And, Anna," Elsa grasped her sister's hand with a grin, looking so deeply into Anna's eyes that the redhead herself couldn't look away, "We can afford it, we can do this."

Hope. Hope, and love, were what Anna had in her heart, and couldn't find the words to express it without sounding cheesy, so she just said, "Wow." Tears found themselves in Anna's eyes, but her hands were in Elsa's. She just let them be and leaned her head against the couch.

* * *

"So," Anna said after a shower and a much needed change of clothes, " Recap. We're looking for a place within a reasonable distance of the ocean, whichever ocean that may be."

"Well, we only have two oceans to pick from, so choose wisely." Elsa said, unable to wipe the grin from her face since Anna agreed that moving was the best possible plan for them.

However, the smile didn't last all day.

It was difficult living in a small town; limitations of social life, no culture (at least the kind Elsa was drawn to, though Anna didn't care so much about that sort of thing herself). Worse than anything, however, was that gossip spread _fast_. Living in a small Idaho town hardly held any perks for the sisters, and the cons were really weighing down on them as they prepared for their leave.

It was hardly midday when the calls started coming in. The phone line was pulled straight from the wall after Anna was finished with it when a long-time friend of Elsa's made her cry. When Anna's rage and Elsa's sorrow subsided, Anna found that she herself was fearful of what her friends would say if they knew- no, _when_.

But the redhead could handle what others had to say about them. The bond she and Elsa had was stronger than diamonds and was just as beautiful, even if others couldn't see its beauty.

No, to Anna, the worst part wasn't when others would come with their judgments. The worst part was when Elsa would apologize.

It was a hard Saturday for the both of them, and the blonde's mood was as turbulent and unexpected as the storms they so frequently had in their mountain-bordered basin of a town. One moment, Elsa would leave fifty kisses all over her sister's face, and the next she'd start apologizing for the strangest things. Like for eating the last of the cake. And for loving the redhead the way she did. And for existing.

The faster they got out of there, the better, Anna would remind her sister.

Grateful for their mutually minimalist tastes, the majority of their stuff was packed without a hitch. The rest presented a problem, however.

Elsa's job weighed about five pounds and fit into a computer bag. As long as she had her laptop and an internet connection, she had a job as a web developer and designer.

Her _other_ job (or profitable hobby, as she liked to call it) wouldn't fit so easily into a bag. Easels and canvases ate up a lot of space. They were as long and wide as they were fragile, and Anna decided that they were a problem for another day. She set them in the corner for them to deal with later.

"Maybe I should just... Oh, I don't know, Anna." Elsa slid down the wall, pulling her knees to her chest.

Anna didn't waist a moment to sit by her sister and wrap her arms around her. Leaning her head against Elsa's, Anna softly said, "I know what you're going to say. We're not tossing your art stuff, and that's final."

A part of what initially sparked the conversation of moving was that Elsa wanted a chance to broaden her horizons with city art. With her already expansive portfolio, Elsa hoped it would help her get her bearings in an art community somewhere.

Honestly, if Elsa didn't have her sister encouraging and kindling her creative side with her impulsiveness and honesty, the blonde would've given up on her dream long ago.

Anna planted a kiss onto her sister's forehead, brushing aside a few stray bangs. "Just imagine what it'll be like once we get to the city."

"Which city?" Elsa whispered, eyes still closed in exhausted stress.

"Any city." Anna rubbed the blonde's arms gently. "It'll be great. Think of the endless lights lining the midnight streets, maybe a little smog, but smog just glows in the nightlight, right? Glowing cities. Cities so big, we can get lost in them in no time flat. We can get lost together."

"You know what?" Elsa said, letting her head fall against the redhead's shoulder, letting Anna's head rest on hers.

"Hmm?"

"I'd like that. I can't wait to get lost with you." Elsa moved only to give Anna's shoulder a gentle kiss, then settled herself back under the safety of her sister's chin.


End file.
